A Unified Pictures/Dog Pond Production
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A Unified Pictures/Dog Pond Production in association with Amberdale Productions and Bron Studios In Theaters and Available on Digital HD & On Demand October 17, 2014 Directed by WILLIAM H. MACY Written by CASEY TWENTER & JEFF ROBISON & WILLIAM H. MACY Produced by KEITH KJARVAL, BRAD GREINER Starring BILLY CRUDUP, ANTON YELCHIN, FELICITY HUFFMAN, JAMIE CHUNG with SELENA GOMEZ and LAURENCE FISHBURNE Rated R for language To download press notes and photography, please visit: www.press.samuelgoldwynfilms.com USERNAME: press / PASSWORD: golden! While we encourage your coverage, we kindly request that while writing about the film, you do not reveal certain plot twists in order to allow the viewer(s) to experience the film in the manner in which the filmmakers intended. Thank you. Logline When a man trying to forget his past stumbles across a box of unpublished music from his former life, he forms a small band which experiences local success and ultimately changes his life. Synopsis In William H. Macy’s moving directorial debut RUDDERLESS, Billy Crudup plays Sam, a former high-profile advertising executive whose life is torn apart by the sudden death of his son. Living off the grid on a docked sailboat, he wastes away his days while drowning his pain in alcohol. When Sam discovers a box filled with his son's demo tapes and lyrics, his own child’s musical talent is a revelation for him, a grieving father who felt he’d been absent from his son’s life. Communing with his deceased son’s dashed dreams, Sam learns each song and eventually musters the will to perform one at a local bar. When Quentin, a young musician in the audience, is captivated by the song, the unlikely duo forms a rock band that becomes surprisingly popular and revitalizes both of their lives. Crudup, who gives a searing performance, leads an exemplary cast that includes Anton Yelchin as Quentin, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne and Felicity Huffman. With RUDDERLESS, William H. Macy has gifted us with a poignant and inspirational musical drama about the power of love, forgiveness and redemption. RUDDERLESS had its world-premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it was the closing night film. 3 Director’s Statement I’ve been an actor for forty years, and in that time I’ve had a front row seat to watch some of the finest directors in this business at work. And as I took on the task of directing RUDDERLESS, my first feature, I kept wondering how I would say “action.” (Tell the truth and shame the devil.) I’ve seen a lot of different styles and none of them seemed to fit me. I know Clint Eastwood simply says a quiet “ok.” As it turned out, I didn’t say action at all, the First AD did. That was fine by me because I had a full plate. I was prepared to be out of my comfort zone, but this was more like being dragged behind a truck. Everyone told me directing was a monstrous amount of work, and everyone was right. It was the most exhausting, intense and overwhelming thing I’ve ever done. It was also the most thrilling, rewarding and invigorating thing I’ve ever done. I fell in love with this business all over again. And now, all I want to do is direct. Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison wrote the script, and I liked it immediately. It was an important story; it had music and humor and great characters. I called Casey, on April 1st as it turned out, and told him I’d like to do it. Casey called Jeff and had some difficulty convincing him that he wasn’t pulling an April Fools gag. We spent about two years tweaking the script and trying to get it produced. Everything came together when we sent it to Keith Kjarval to produce. Keith put all the pieces together quickly, so after two years, I was suddenly behind schedule. One of the major characters in the film is the music. “Sam” (Billy Crudup) loses his son Josh (Miles Heizer) to gun violence, and we only see the son in three brief scenes at the beginning. Josh’s songs are all Sam has left of his son, and as the script developed, six of those songs became set pieces in the film. I knew that if those songs weren’t good, the film would never recover. Liz Gallacher came on as musical advisor and put the word out in the indie rock world that we were looking for songs. I wrote a letter to accompany the script and described what I was looking for. I said (without apology) that I wanted pop songs, with a verse and chorus and bridge, and that I wanted one to be able to hum the “hook” after just one hearing. In the script we put place holders for each song and described what we thought the song should be about, and I was adamant that I wanted funny, subversive and off beat lyrics to better describe who Josh was. The first song I settled on was called “Home” by Simon Steadman and Charlton Pettus. (Actually, two songs were submitted called “Home” and both dealt with trying to get back home and I thought, well that’s a sign.) I listened to more songs by Simon and Charlton. Charlton had written a song called “I’m An Asshole.” I decided these were my guys. They stayed on for the whole film; we did our pre-records in Charlton’s garage. They are the reason the music in the film is so good. There are only about twelve minutes of score in the film and Eef Barzelay wrote it. After adding Eef’s score to one of the scenes, it became my favorite scene in the film. Eef’s instrument of choice is a baritone Ukulele, which won my heart. In one of the scenes, I asked him for a John Williams type soaring crescendo. Eef emailed me his idea, played on his uke and accompanied by his falsetto. That took some imagination on my part. I flew to Nashville and we recorded Eef’s score in five days. I still don’t know how we shot so much movie on our budget, and Keith swears it was all legal. One day, I showed up for one of our bigger scenes and Chris Stull, our designer, was putting the last touches on the set - a huge rock ‘n roll stage, with giant speakers 4 and curtains and lights and trucks. We blocked off the entire street, and there were vendors lining the street and it was a real block party rock show. He said, “What do you think this cost?” I guessed 75 grand and he said lower, so I guessed 25 grand and he shook his head. I said “Was it free?” He said we made five grand on the scene because he had sold advertising rights to Mustang Beer and everything else was free. I’m moved when I remember how hard everyone worked on this film. The fourth week of shooting, I looked at my genius cinematographer, Eric Lin, and there was something odd about him. It took me a while to realize what it was: he was sitting down. I think that was the only time I ever saw him sit in 25 days. As with most indies, I never really finished any part of the film – I simply ran out of time. John Axelrad edited the film, and he also taught me a tremendous amount about directing. John and I were cutting up to the day they took the equipment away. Above all, we sang. There is a lot of music in RUDDERLESS, and we kicked off production with a Karaoke party that has attained legendary status. There were guitars on set all the time, and of course, my ukulele. I hope you get to see the film. Prepare to lose your heart to Billy Crudup. His last moment in the film is one of those cinematic gems you wait your whole life for. Billy and Anton Yelchin are so perfect and delightful you’ll want to bottle them. And thank goodness I knew enough to shut up and just roll the cameras when Felicity Huffman and Billy did their scenes. I won’t tell you Laurence Fishburne is an icon because it would piss him off, but Fish is an icon. Selena Gomez, Ben Kweller, Kate Micucci – I don’t know how we got so lucky on the casting. One night after shooting for fourteen hours, I was so exhausted I had trouble climbing into the van to go back to the hotel, when the driver’s walkie talkie squawked. A transpo-guy, who had been at work for eighteen hours, asked if anyone could help him load a cart onto a stake bed. In two seconds, three cheerful voices came back, “You got it, Jimmy,” and “I’m on my way,” and “No problem, partner.” What a business. God willing, I’ll get to work with these wonderful people again. Wm H. Macy Hollywood, California 5 Cast Billy Crudup Equally memorable on the stage and screen, BILLY CRUDUP has earned critical accolades throughout his career for his consistently lauded performances. Crudup can currently be seen on Broadway alongside Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Shuler Hensley in Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” in reparatory. In 2014, Crudup will be seen in Guillaume Canet’s crime thriller, “Blood Ties” co-starring Clive Owen, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard and in the William H.